links for 2010-11-28

"Unfortunately, I fear that racism — whether realized or unconscious — is doing damage to the LGBT community’s continued fight against HIV/AIDS. Instead of seeing the human person in need of aid and healthcare, many see skin color. At the same time, some folks inside communities of color aren’t seeing past sex, letting homophobia and heterosexism — whether realized or unconscious — cloud their view of HIV/AIDS and who it affects.

"When we allow ourselves to give into racism and homophobia, we prove to be no better than the absent federal government officials of the 1980s, who ignored AIDS because it primarily affected gay men. What are people who are LGBT and of color to do? These divisions hurt them, and in the long run make everyone a loser."

"BUSINESS IS booming for the Islamophobia industry. Some examples, according to Smietana: 'IRS filings from 2008 show that Robert Spencer, who runs the Jihadwatch.org blog, earned $132,537 from the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a conservative nonprofit. Brigitte Tudor, who runs the anti-Islam groups ACT! For America and the American Congress for Truth, earned $152,810, while her colleague Guy Rogers collected $154,900.'"

"The campaign, labeled "Take Back Yoga," does not ask yoga devotees to become Hindu, or instructors to teach more about Hinduism. The small but increasingly influential group behind it, the Hindu American Foundation, suggests only that people become more aware of yoga's debt to the faith's ancient traditions.

"Organizers of the Take Back Yoga effort point out that the philosophy of yoga was first described in Hinduism's seminal texts and remains at the core of Hindu teaching. Yet, because the religion has been stereotyped in the West as a polytheistic faith of 'castes, cows and curry,' they say, most Americans prefer to see yoga as the legacy of a more timeless, spiritual 'Indian wisdom.'"

Race, Culture, and Identity in a Colorstruck World

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Racialicious is a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture. Check out our daily updates on the latest celebrity gaffes, our no-holds-barred critique of questionable media representations, and of course, the inevitable Keanu Reeves John Cho newsflashes.

Latoya Peterson (DC) is the Owner and Editor (not the Founder!) of Racialicious, Arturo García (San Diego) is the Managing Editor, Andrea Plaid (NYC) is the Associate Editor. You can email us at team@racialicious.com.